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Contrary to insinuations that the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) was behind the circulation of President Mills� ill-health, which prompted his recent trip to the United States for a �routine medical checkup�, compelling signals have exposed some apparent infighting between loyalists of President Mills and a faceless group purported to be aligned to Vice President John Mahama. The Informer newspaper, in its Monday, June 25 edition, revealed damning information that certain �doom-mongering prophets� at the Osu Castle must have leaked the information of the supposed death of President Mills last week to the nation causing fear and panic. The Informer newspaper is a publication believed to being bankrolled and actively directed editorially by President Mills� right-hand man, Koku Anyidoho, hence information emanating from The Informer about hints of happenings in the Castle must have some credence, critics have concluded. �An intel picked from the Osu-Castle pointed to the fact that the latest news of another death of President Mills emanated from the Castle itself,� stated the newspaper in its editorial yesterday. The newspaper inferred that these individuals with the �basket-mouth� tendency might be leaking information about President Mills� ill-health for self interest. The NPP was initially fingered for propagating the dooms-day news to score political points but the party has dismissed this allegation for lacking any substantive basis. The NPP Member of Parliament for Manhyia, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, on Joy FM�s News File current affairs programme on Saturday, wondered how the NPP would have laid its hands on such highly privileged information if it was not first leaked by inside sources within the presidency with sinister motives. The NPP argued that if there was anybody to gain from the supposed death of President Mills, it would be Vice President John Mahama who, by constitutional provisions, automatically became president in an event of the demise of the sitting president. He would hold this position until a general election is held. Critics had inferred a possible link between the alleged leakages and Vice President Mahama loyalists because they believed they stood to gain immensely as the demise or incapacitation of President Mills would propel his deputy in the seat of power. �The NDC is, arguably, becoming escalated bits of self-destruct individuals with personal interests to safeguard than a political party with a common purpose, industry and destiny,� said The Informer. When contacted by DAILY GUIDE, John Jinapor, special aide to Vice President Mahama, dismissed any such insinuations of a Mahama camp, describing them as rumours. He added, �As for rumours, we really do not want to give credence to them.� According to him, he would �really like to talk to the editor of the newspaper�. Mr. Jinapor indicated the readiness of the vice president to resume his regular working relationship with the president who just returned from his 10-day routine medical checkup in the US. When asked if there was a faction within the presidency, he emphatically denied its existence. Meanwhile, information is sketchy about the real source of the �wild rumours� that went viral two weeks ago on almost all information platforms, including popular social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter. But many people who received the information, including key National Democratic Congress (NDC) officials, claimed they got the hint from text messages. According to political pundits, the presidency actually provided the basis for the wild rumours about the purported demise of President Mills to spread because the president had remained unexpectedly quiet while ethnic, chieftaincy and communal violence were erupting all over the country. Indeed, in the past month, about 10 different violent clashes have been reported; however, the presidency failed to comment on the situation. The only time that the president was seen making any public appearance was on his way to the US for his �routine medical check-up� on Saturday June 16, 2012. On his way, he did a little stopover on the tarmac to debunk allegations that he was dead. �You look at me as a person, are you seeing a person who has died?� President Mills asked rhetorically. �Indeed this is not the first time I�ve heard people say this about me�let me just say that I�m very, very, very strong. And I don�t know the basis for saying that I�m dead,� President Mills told the press at the airport. President Mills has had running battles with his health and there are fears that his condition might be deteriorating. However, he maintains that he is fit and even demonstrated his fitness at the airport when he was departing by doing a couple of fitness moves. The president has admitted that he has a sinus ailment and critics say the condition might be taking its toll on him.